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The Conscience of the King (episode)
An actor traveling aboard the Enterprise may be a former governor who ordered a mass-murder twenty years ago. Summary The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is diverted from its normal mission to investigate a discovery by Doctor Thomas Leighton - a new synthetic food. When they arrive, Kirk learns the discovery is instead Leighton's firm belief that a travelling actor, Anton Karidian, is actually Kodos the Executioner, a man who ordered the murder of 4,000 colonists on Tarsus IV. Leighton is one of only nine people who actually saw Kodos; Kirk is another. At first convinced Kodos is dead, Kirk's research turns up enough information to pique his curiosity about Leighton's claim, so he returns to the planet in hopes of meeting Karidian in person. While walking with Karidian's lovely daughter Lenore, Kirk discovers Leighton's body. Truly suspicious now, Kirk calls in a favor; he has his friend Captain Jon Daily strand the actors, so they are forced to ask the Enterprise for help. Spock becomes concerned about the captain's behavior. Researching, he learns enough to raise his own suspicions, including the distrubing fact that of the nine eyewitnesses who could positively identify Kodos, seven are now dead. And whenever one died, the Karidian Players were somewhere near. Only Kirk and Lieutenant Kevin Riley remain alive. And then, someone poisons Riley, very nearly killing him. Spock is now certain Karidian and Kodos are the same man, but Kirk remains unsure. Their discussion is interrupted by the hum of a overloading phaser. Somewhere in Kirk's quarters is a potential explosive that can take out the entire deck. Kirk finds and disposes of it seconds before it explodes. Kirk is finally driven to confront Karidian, asking him point blank whether he is Kodos. Karidian gives him an evasive answer, but does perform a short speech for the purposes of voice comparison. Meanwhile, in sickbay, the recovering Lieutenant Riley overhears McCoy's log entry, learning that Karidian is suspected of being Kodos, the man who murdered Riley's family. The voiceprint comparison is close, very close, but Kirk argues that when a man's life is at stake, very close isn't good enough. The Karidian Players begin a presentation of Hamlet. Riley, with a stolen phaser, sneaks backstage. Kirk manages to talk him out of killing Karidian, who overhears their sotto voce conversation. Kirk is still backstage when Karidian and his daughter Lenore discuss what he overheard. Karidian learns, to his horror, that Lenore killed seven of the nine witnesses who could identify him, and plans to kill the remaining two after the performance. Kirk summons a security guard to take them into custody; Lenore snatches his weapon and runs on stage. Karidian, desperate there should be no more blood on his hands, steps between her and Kirk as she fires; the shot is fatal. Twenty years after earning the name, Kodos the Executioner is dead. Memorable Quotes "Worlds may change, galaxies disintegrate, but a woman always remains a woman." - Kirk to Lenore "Even in this corner of the galaxy, Captain, two plus two equals four. Almost certainly, an attempt will be made to kill you. Why do you invite death?" - Spock "What if you decide he '''is' Kodos? What then? Do you play God, carry his head through the corridors in triumph? That won't bring back the dead, Jim!"'' "No. But they may rest easier." - Kirk and McCoy, on what to do if Karidian is Kodos "My child! My child! You've left me nothing! You were the one thing in my life, untouched by what I'd done." - Karidian, on learning that his daughter Lenore was a serial killer who had killed seven of nine eyewitnesses. "And this ship: all this power, surging and throbbing. Yet under control. Are you like that Captain?" - Lenore to Captain Kirk "They died quickly, without pain...but they '''died'!"'' - Spock Background Information * The title is a reference to the line from Hamlet "The play's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." The episode contains several not-so-subtle references to that play: A leader's troubled conscience, his crimes being exposed during a play, and a daughter going insane (or more so, in Lenore's case) after the accidental killing of her father. * This episode seems to be an allegory about the search for Nazi war criminals after World War II - particularly Hitler himself whose body was also burnt beyond recognition. * Matt Groening, creator of ''The Simpsons'' named his recurring alien characters Kang and Kodos, after the characters in this episode and "Day of the Dove". * Kirk's quarters are labeled as 3F 121. * The preview for this episode features an alternate edit of Kirk searching for the overloaded phaser in his quarters. It was unused because the plywood under the mattress of his bunk was visible. * This is the only appearance of the shuttle bay observation deck. * Lenore's conversation with Kirk on the observation deck, some of it quoted above, is loaded with double entendres, and is probably the most racy dialogue ever in the series. * McCoy's cabinet has two skulls in it for the first time in this episode. * The vent disposal into which Kirk places the overloaded phaser would later be used by Lazarus to cause a fire in "The Alternative Factor." The small drawer would be filled with circuits for that scene. * When Spock declines to have a drink with McCoy by saying that his people were "spared the dubious benefits of alcohol," McCoy scorns Spock's refusal by stating that he now knows why Vulcan was conquered. This is contradicted in The Immunity Syndrome when Spock says Vulcan has not been conquered in its collective memory. * In the original draft, a "Crewman Dacon" was the young man aboard whose parents had been murdered by Kodos. Fortunately, someone remembered Bruce Hyde and replaced that character with Kevin Riley. It is quite a change, since Riley was largely played for laughs in his first appearance in "The Naked Time." * The equipment-filled alcove that McCoy and Spock pass in the corridor as they discuss Kodos the Executioner is labeled "Engineering Circuit Bay." This sign will later be placed next to the Jeffries tube in season two. * Spock's humanity is on display again in this episode. He is very empassioned as he speaks of the mass-murders on Tarsus IV. His conversation with McCoy also has 'Star Trek's' first direct reference to eugenics, although there is an oblique reference in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?." * This is the only episode that shows night-time on the Enterprise. Kirk says that they try to approximate conditions of night and day as closely as possible. *The song sung by Uhura is "Beyond Antares." Dreamlike and rendered beautifully by Nichelle Nichols, it adds excellent atmosphere to this episode. Nichelle Nichols got to interact with the Vulcan harp again in Elaan of Troyius, but that scene was cut. * The voice of Captain Daily is the same voice used for "Starbase Operations" in The Menagerie, Part I, and is the same actor seen as "Mike", one of Kirk's old classmates at the bar in Court Martial. The actor's name is probably Tom Curtis. * The city in the background out Tom Leighton's window is the same one used as Mojave in The Cage. The window itself was used in the Delta Vega lithium cracking station set in Where No Man Has Gone Before. * Eddie Paskey's character name is finally established as "Mr. Leslie" in this episode. * The ship's theatre is a redress of the Engineering set. * Her walk-on bridge appearance and stern look at Lenore is Grace Lee Whitney's last appearance in the series. * Joseph Mullendore's score for this episode would be heard again in Court Martial, Shore Leave, Space Seed, The City on the Edge of Forever and in the teaser of The Return of the Archons. * In the 4th season ENT episode, In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II the future biographical information displayed for Hoshi Sato states that she was one of the 4,000 people killed by Kodos on the Tarsus colony. *James Doohan (Scotty) and George Takei (Sulu) do not appear in this episode. Links and References Main Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Grace Lee Whitney as Rand Guest Stars * Arnold Moss as Anton Karidian * Barbara Anderson as Lenore Karidian * Bruce Hyde as Kevin Thomas Riley * William Sargent as Thomas Leighton * Natalie Norwick as Martha Leighton * David Troy as Larry Matson * Karl Bruck as King Duncan * Marc Adams as Prince Hamlet * Eddie Paskey as Leslie * Tom Curtis? as Jon Daily (voice) * Majel Barrett as the Voice of Computer * Frank da Vinci as Vinci (uncredited) * Ron Veto as Harrison (Security guard, uncredited) * Davis Roberts as Lewis (uncredited) References Arcturian; Astral Queen; Benecia colony, "Beyond Antares"; Cygnia Minor; Jon Daily; double red alert; D. Eames; Galactic Cultural Exchange Project; "Hamlet"; Karidian Company of Players; Kodos the Executioner; Macbeth; E. Molson; Planet Q; quarterly physical; Saurian brandy; William Shakespeare; Tarsus IV; tetralubisol; Vulcan lute. Conscience of the King, The de:Kodos, der Henker nl:The Conscience of the King sv:The Conscience of the King